Rebels’ interference in polls will not be tolerated: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pawan Kumar Sain asserted Wednesday that no interference in the poll process by underground elements will be tolerated and stringent action will be initiated against such activities. Sain's assertion came against the backdrop of a reported abduction of a BJP leader by insurgents from Longding district in the wee hours of Wednesday.

Inspector General of Police (Law & Order) Chukhu Apa, while acknowledging the incident, said that police and paramilitary forces are on the job to rescue the person. He, however, did not want to elaborate on the updates on the incident.

Despite efforts, Longding deputy commissioner Bekir Nyorak and superintendent of police Dekio Gumja declined to speak.

“We have convened a high-level security meeting today to discuss the incident, and the DCs of Longding and Tirap were directed to ensure that there should be no interference in the polling process by any underground groups. Assam Rifles and other paramilitary forces in the district have been asked to intensify security measures,” the CEO told a press conference here.

When his attention was drawn to allegations that a contesting candidate in Longding is using UG elements to win the election and even the insurgent group had issued letters to villagers directing them to support the candidate, Sain cautioned that if any candidate is found indulging in such activities, the Election Commission would not hesitate to disqualify him. “A special platoon of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) reached Longding during the day and had already established area dominance. Around 13,176 personnel of CAPF and state police are working on the ground to conduct peaceful polling in the state,” the CEO disclosed.

He added that since the announcement of the poll in the state, as many as 36 law and order incidents have been registered where one person died and another 33 were injured.

“We have so far arrested 199 people, and 4,123 people with previous records of poll violence have been bound down. So far, the state election machinery has seized 753 illegal arms and achieved the 100 percent target of depositing a total of 33,996 licenced arms in various police stations,” Sain added. He said that out of the total 2,226 polling stations in the state, 480 polling booths fall under shadow areas, while 588 booths have been identified as critical and 443 as vulnerable.

Sain disclosed that for monitoring of the poll process, webcasting and enabling communications in a real-time environment (ENCORE) would be done in 750 polling stations on an online basis, while offline webcast facilities would be available in 342 polling stations.

The official added that as many as 87 inter-state nakas are operational in the state to thwart any anti-social elements from neighbouring states trying to disrupt polling. The CEO informed me that a junior engineer of the state power department was suspended during the day for dereliction of duties.

“We will ensure free and fair polling without any violence and will not tolerate any violation of the model code of conduct (MCC). We have already suspended an additional deputy commissioner and a senior government official for favouring candidates,” he said.

 Also Read: Arunachal Pradesh Prepares for Remote Polling Stations Ahead of Simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly Elections (sentinelassam.com)

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